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Show Uampires, Vanessa & Sunshine Parker Hollywood has been comine to Moab for years, but the worst movie ever made here was also the best. By Jim Stiles Hundreds of movies have been filmed in the Moab area. Some of them are legendary film classics. I remember when Thelma & Louise was shot in and around the canyon country. I saw Susan Sarandon one evening, coming out of what was then the Grand Emporium. I was shocked not only was she walking Main Street in sweat shorts and a she was Bic about three feet of a little diameter had She tall Tiny woman. ankles the only pen. Hollywood, I thought...those people really are masters of illusion. John Wayne spent time here; he used to stay at the Apache Motel during film shoots and was once photographed there without his toupee'. He grumbled "damn kids," but still rt, posed for the picture. Robert DeNiro came to Moab to make a movie with "a promising new 14 year old r. I met the kid's parents one day at the old Main Street Broiler. They said their boy was going to be a famous movie star. Yeah right, I chuckled to myself. "What's his name? I asked, just to be polite. "Leonardo DiCaprio," they said. No way, I thought. Not with a goofy name like that. But I guess parents can have their little dreams. co-sta- As he passed by, I called out, "Excuse me, but aren't you Sunshine Parker?" The man looked startled and pleased, all at once. It was indeed Sunshine Parker, a character actor that everyone has seen time and again, but few can identify by name. I could. He had played the role of the Seer in a Nick Nolle movie, John Steinbeck's Cannery Row, and it was one of those films that I had practically memorized. e behavioral problems. have always struggled with I Sunshine gave me his autograph and gave him my phone number. "If you ever want to have lunch or recite lines from Cannery Raw I said, "Just call me." An hour later. Sunshine called. "You wanna get some dinner?" Over the next few days Sunshine Parker and I cruised Main Street, enjoyed the lovely Moab autumn weather, and ate a lot of burgers at the old Main Street Broiler. One day at lunch, I asked him if he remembered the scene in Cannery Row where Nolte (as Doc) and Sunshine (as the Seer) are walking on the beach and Doc asks his opinion of I obsessive-compulsiv- octopL "Yes...I vaguely remember that scene. "Well," I squirmed, "What would you think of us that scene from the The only autographs in the authors collection are Ted Williams and Vanessa Pierson. Vmcsu Pierson, then eight, on the Vampire set. Some people love the fact that Moab is a cinematic favorite; some don't. There was never any love lost between former Moab film commission director Bette Stanton and Scott Groene and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). Bette always thought that SUWA wanted to stop every Moab-boun- d Hollywood project from coming here. SUWA thought Bette wanted every movie ever conceived to be filmed in Moab. The Truth But with all that expended passion, I used probably lies somewhere in the middle-grounif Bette to wonder and Scott Groene didn't, in fact, really have a thing for each other. I we'll know. never suppose d. But my favorite Moab Movie, the one I always fondly recall whenever anyone mentions that Hollywood is coming to town, is a little gem called: SUNDOWN: The Vampires in Retreat. It is the worst movie ever produced in the history of cinema. And I love it. I was irresistibly drawn to this film for two reasons. First I was a personal friend of one of the movie's stars. And second, one of my favorite character actors of all time had a role in the film as well I even got to hang out with him for a while. I was cruising Main Street one day in my recently purchased Triumph Spitfire convertible. I was feeling the first pangs of crisis and had to have the car. (I later sold it to a friend of mine it was her 40th birthday present to herself.) Watching the sidewalk on the west side of the street, I spied a man lumbering along Main Street with a beard struck a chord as well gait that seemed oddly familiar. His bushy I I That's Seer!" the exclaimed, "My god! Suddenly pulled to the edge of the sidewalk, a hundred yards or so ahead of my hero, and waited. pre-midli- fe movie?" Sunshine put down his burger. "What do you mean?" "Well, I'll be Doc and you play the Seer." "Look," he said, "I remember the scene, but I don't remember the lines." "Oh...that's not a problem. I memorized the lines." Sunshine gnawed on an onion ring. "You memorized the lines. You know, hoss...you worry me sometimes. Do you have too much time on your hands or something?" I didn't answer his question. "Look, here's how it goes. I say 'What do you think of octopi?' and you say 'Moody. Very moody. Doesn't take much to upset them.'" "Is that it?' he asked. "Yeah," I said. That's it. So can we do it?" "Do what?" "Sunshine, can we do the line from Cannery Row?" "Right now? Over our cheeseburgers?" I nodded my head pleadingly. "Why not?" he shrugged. And so I asked him the question about octopi and I got to hear Sunshine Parker say, "Moody. Very Moody. Doesn't take much to upset them. The next day. Sunshine Parker's part in the film ended and he left Moab. I last saw him in a salsa commercial He is still my hero. SUNDOWN: The Vampires in Retreat cast a lot of locals for the film, some with speaking parts. Among the Moabites getting their Big Break was then eight-yeold Vanessa Pierson. She was cast as the older sister in a family that was caught in the middle of some Bort of ar Vote for the follicly-challenge- d ' candidate. ELECT... KYLE BAILEY City Council Seat 4-Ye- ar paid political ad iirtiHiiiiw t w. - V.. frr,-- . -- 7' V 'r ' V I J-- y |
